Parental Discipline and Criminal Deviance (From Deviance and the Family, P 103-112, 1988, Frank E Hagan and Marvin B Sussman, eds. -- See NCJ-113701)

• NCJ Number: 113707
• Author(s): M W H Len
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 9 pages
• Sale Source: Haworth Press, Inc
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

Indepth interviews with 63 male and female inmates in California and Hawaii examined the extent to which offenders blamed parental punishment for their criminality.

Abstract

Of inmates, 3 percent reported having received no punishment from parents, 10 percent reported mild punishment, 26 percent reported harsh punishment, and 25 percent reported severe punishment. Of the 12 inmates who believed there was a relationship between the way their parents disciplined them and their criminal activity, all had received harsh punishment or violent abuse. Five inmates were unsure if there was a connection, and these also had received harsh or severe punishment. The remaining subjects felt there was no connection between parental punishment and their crimes, although 75 percent of these also had received harsh or severe punishment. The two subjects who had not been physically punished did not feel this had contributed to their criminality. It is possible that the belief system of 'doing your own time' may have contributed to the perceived lack of connection between physical punishment in childhood and later criminal activity reported by the majority of these inmates. Intuitive feelings that one should love one's parents, the machismo common among inmates, and self-blame also may have been operative factors in inmates' unwillingness to blame their parents. 14 references.